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Decision Making and ADHD

Decision making is something most of us with ADHD struggle with.

Decision making is something most adults with ADHD struggle with. We also tend to be time blind, meaning it’s hard for us to look back or ahead in time. We sometimes need a reminder to look in the right direction.

Some of the best advice I ever received about making decisions came from a fortune cookie. It read: Make choices based on who you want to be, not who you’ve been.

This is a fundamental guiding principal that can lead you directly to the best answer. Think about where you want to be in the future. Which choice leads to that outcome? That’s your answer.

I just got married on New Year’s Eve. We bypassed all the wedding decisions by eloping – no guests, no cake, no dress. (That’s why you weren’t invited.) The only major decision was what to do about my last name. Should I stick with Prosser, so I still have the same last name as my son? Or should I use my new husband’s last name, Main, and hope that people can still find me? What happened to that nice ADHD Coach Beth Prosser? And who is this Beth Main person?

I gave serious consideration to hyphenating for business and parenting reasons. But, five years from now, my son will be in college and won’t really care. My current clients will have moved on, and I will have met many new people using my new name. Why would I want the lingering connection to my ex? I don’t. I just want to be Beth Main. So I’m choosing to be Beth Main now.

It sure is going to be a hassle to change my name in 127 different places. But, five years from now, I won’t even remember the transition. I’ll just be happy with the decision I made today, because I made it based on how I want my life to be moving forward.

Keep your eye on the prize! And make your decisions accordingly.

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